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Morning Five: 10.11.11 Edition

Posted by jstevrtc on October 11th, 2011

One might think that Robbie Hummel, or any other player who’s torn the same ACL twice within eight months, might be a tad cautious upon returning to the basketball court. A burnt child shuns fire, after all. Right. Being the type of competitor he is, he probably went to the place on the gym floor where his last ACL tear happened and jumped up and down on it using his bad knee. That’s speculation on our part, but here’s more: Michigan State’s Draymond Green knows about Hummel’s skill and intensity first-hand, and wonders if Hummel might not even be better (?!?) than he was before because of it; the Indianapolis Starsummarizes the last 19 months for the Purdue forward.

Occasionally we post a story or a link about a player who has had a tough stretch of luck, or who’s coming back from an illness, or something in that vein. More often than not, we throw in that old chestnut that goes, “If you’re looking for a kid to root for this season, here you go,” or the like. And we always mean it. Iona’s Mike Glover certainly qualifies. Adam Zagoria has a wonderful profile of the well-traveled Glover, a fellow who takes the inspiration he feels from being the father of a two-year old and channels it into discipline and harder work on the basketball court and in the classroom. If you’re looking for a guy to root for this season, well…

You thought things had cooled on the conference realignment front? Please. As we all wait for Missouri to figure out what the heck it plans to do, we can take heart that the realignment virus has spread beyond the Power Six and made its way to smaller conferences. Among those weighing their options are the Colonial Athletic Association and the Missouri Valley, according to the New York Times’ Pete Thamel. What’s interesting here is that while those leagues are looking to expand, they also have to make sure the very conferences they’re poaching from aren’t pick-pocketing other members out from underneath their ranks.

Speaking of realignment, the Boston Globe spoke with Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo at length about the process that led the ACC to snatch Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the Big East several weeks ago. In the article, DeFilippo assures that the display of power by the ACC was based almost solely on football and television contracts — “TV — ESPN — is the one who told us what to do…” — and if you had any doubt about the story that BC blackballed Connecticut from also gaining an ACC invite, DeFilippo explains: “It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.” You need to check the rest of this one out for yourself. Great stuff here.

Maryland Madness is this Friday. Recall, they are the originators of the midnight madness concept, and this is their 40th. This season is also the tenth anniversary of the Terps’ 2002 national title (and, unless we’re wrong, the 20th anniversary of Bonnie Bernstein’s graduation, if you can believe that), and to celebrate, four of the five starters from the championship team will play in the alumni game that happens as part of the MM festivities. We admit, it’s pretty cool that Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Byron Mouton, and Chris Wilcox are coming back to participate in such an event, but if we’re talking Maryland alums in an alumni game, what would really impress us is if they got a uniform on Van Pelt and gave him a couple of touches down low.